83-1216.01. Quality management and improvement plan; purpose; contents; implementation report.

(1)(a) The department shall, with the assistance and support of the Advisory Committee on Developmental Disabilities, develop and implement a quality management and improvement plan to promote and monitor quality relating to services and quality of life for persons with developmental disabilities.

(b) The purpose of the quality management and improvement plan is to provide information necessary for an accurate assessment of the quality and effectiveness of services for persons with developmental disabilities and their families and the delivery of such services, with special attention to the impact that the services have on the quality of life of recipients and their families.

(c) The quality management and improvement plan shall reflect national best practice for services for persons with developmental disabilities and their families as determined by the department with the assistance of the advisory committee.

(d) The quality management and improvement plan shall assess, through both quantitative and qualitative means, (i) the quality of services provided to persons with developmental disabilities and their families, (ii) the ability of the services provided to meet the needs of the recipients of the services, (iii) the effect of the services to support or improve the quality of life of the recipients of the services, and (iv) the satisfaction of the recipients with the process of determination of eligibility and the process of delivery of the services. In order to develop the quality management and improvement plan, the department shall use procedures to collect data from recipients of services for persons with disabilities and their families by relying on external, independent evaluators who are not employed by the department. The quality management and improvement plan shall give significance to input gathered from recipients of services for persons with developmental disabilities and families of such recipients and include information gathered from the department.

(e) The quality management and improvement plan shall include recommendations for improvements to the types of services and the delivery of services for persons with developmental disabilities and their families.

(2) The department shall provide a quality management plan electronically to the Legislature no later than September 30, 2017. In the plan the department shall detail its approach to ensuring a sustainable, continuous, quality improvement management system for the delivery of services for persons with developmental disabilities and their families that incorporates responsibilities of the department and recipients.

(3) The department shall issue an implementation report regarding the quality management and improvement plan and publish it on the web site of the department and provide it electronically to the Legislature on or before December 30, 2017, and March 30, 2018. Beginning in 2018, the department shall annually provide a report regarding outcomes, improvement priorities, and activities of the department during the previous fiscal year. The report shall be published on the web site of the department and shall be provided electronically to the Legislature on or before September 30.

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